Life as a Tatto Artist

Alternative Careers | June 16, 2010 | Share

If you are looking for a lucrative career option, you need not become a part of the crowd. No more is there a need to run the race with thousands of other entrants and there is no compulsion to surrender your love for anything. All you need to have is a lot of passion, unbeaten determination and die hard obsession for the love you want to pursue.

One such career option is that of a tattoo artist. A tattoo is a sign of rebellion, a fashion accessory and even depicts emotions.

Tattoo art is not alien to Indian culture. Since time immemorial people, especially tribals, have been getting various traditional symbols inscribed on their hands, back and legs. The concept of traditional henna has also been modified to tattoo form today. If you do not know how to put mehendi and have no time to wait for it to darken, all you need to do is just buy henna based temporary tattoos from the market and stick them on your palms.

The culture of tattoos is growing by leaps and bounds in India – thanks to the film and television industry. Leading Bollywood stars like Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone and Esha Deol flaunt their permanent tattoos to drive their fans crazy. Today’s youngsters are also not to be left behind and are surrendering to their love for tattoos by getting them engraved on various parts of their body. These days it is common to spot the tattoo stalls in various college fests and events.

It is perhaps a misconception that careers like that of a tattoo artist are chosen by school dropouts, students who are not bright or those who may have not received a good education. Though all that this career option demands is a steady hand, out of box imagination, a grip on historical art, culture, knowledge of shading and composition come in useful. Enrolling into a course of Fine Arts or getting into an apprenticeship will teach one the technicalities and give one the needed skills to handle tattoos.

To talk of formal training, with the information available online there is only one tattoo school known as the “World’s Only Tattoo school” (Louisiana) offering professional instruction in artistic tattooing, body piercing and permanent make- up.

This creative industry is extremely competitive. Though odds against success in this field are many, it is not impossible for those who have in them the zeal, talent, determination, perseverance, patience and flexibility to mould their art the way customer wants. Originality and uniqueness of ideas is key to success in the tattoo making industry. If you want to establish yourself in this field, a good salary should not be your objective. In the beginning, a budding tattoo artist should only concentrate upon gaining experience and working for an established name.

Once recognition grows, money follows. Though average prices start from rupees 1500 for a permanent tattoo, the dimensions of the latter, the color, the design, technique used determines the price paid. Whether a tattoo is permanent or temporary will also govern the amount paid. However, a settled and recognized tattoo artist can make you shell out thousands of rupees for a tiny tattoo. Otherwise the minimum one can expect to earn for a tattoo is rupees 200.

The extreme competition, difficulty in finding a foothold, complexity in winning the confidence of people and various hardships to sustain tattoo parlors are a few of the challenges that fresh entrants will have to be prepared for.

People entering this profession should be very clear about the U.S.P that would sell their art, they should be patient enough to wait to earn and above all they should be ready for the travails and tribulations that awaits them.

So, if a child likes scribbling on his hands, if he enjoys drawing his favorite cartoon characters on his legs, there may be an upcoming tattoo artist in the making. Therefore, anyone who has a creative bent of mind loves body art and knows how to use pencil and shades….. Go ahead and make your dreams fly with colors and shapes.

Juhi Gupta